One year ago (that's 2012), Japan chose their "Kanji Of The Year" and it was 金, aka "gold," (for the second time since this award has existed). They chose gold for the respectable number of gold medals they got in the … [Read more...]
Traveling to a new place has its own sort of bucket list, full of foods you insist you will try, mountains you’re desperate to climb, and buildings you yearn to see. Sometimes these bucket list entries are personal — the … [Read more...]
Whether you’re already pouring hours a day into studying Japanese or struggling to get anything done due to a lack of motivation or time, there is a way to do more. These small tricks will help you neatly fold up some … [Read more...]
Japanese TV seems to be obsessed with interviewing foreigners and asking them what they think of Japan. There's even a whole NHK show called “Cool Japan,” where a bunch of foreigners sit around the studio opining about … [Read more...]
Disclaimer: reading this article will not transform you into an actual jujitsu master. Still here? Great! Reading ahead will not in fact make you a real-life, dagger-wielding, jujitsu pro, but it will tell you whether … [Read more...]
I don't remember my first encounter with Hello Kitty. I have memories of being aware of her existence sometime in the late nineties, but there was no memorable first meeting. For me, Kitty-chan was neither here nor there. … [Read more...]